Tories release 'shameful' survey asking people to vote on whether Grenfell tragedy matters

It’s been exactly five months since the tragedy at Grenfell Tower.

Up to 80 people were killed in the blaze but many are still unaccounted for. Hundreds of families lost everything and were made homeless. In fact, 131 families are still living in temporary accommodation.

And now Tories in the North Kensington borough have been branded ‘shameful’ after they issued a survey asking residents to rate the importance of the disaster.

A survey sent out by Kensington, Chelsea and Fulham Conservatives said: “Please circle the number which represents how important to you and your family each of the following local issues are… The tragedy of Grenfell Tower and help for families affected and the wider community.”

The Grenfell disaster was then casually listed alongside other topics such as recycling, keeping council tax low and traffic management.

After an image of the massively insensitive survey was shared on Twitter, politicians and members of the public vented their outrage online.

London MP David Lammy, who lost a close friend in the fire, was furious about the survey. He wrote on Twitter: “What is wrong with these people? What sort of society are we becoming? Yes @KCFConservative I still care about Grenfell and I’m bloody angry.”

Rachael Swindon said: “When sensitivity and common sense go out of the window. Shame on you @Conservatives.”

Emma Dent Coad, MP for Kensington and former councillor, told the Mirror: “The Council would like us to think they have reformed their thinking and have benefited from a ‘culture change’. This letter proves beyond all doubt they have not. Asking people how much they care about Grenfell on a score of 0 to 10 is shameful.”

The local Tory association responsible for the survey has been contacted for comment.

This development came on the same day that Dent Coad issued a damning report on the problems of poverty and inequality in her wealthy constituency.

The report says: ““Kensington and Chelsea, where I was born and bred, is a microcosm of everything that has gone wrong in our country in the past few years. It is a place where inequality has become a gross spectacle. Where childhood poverty, overcrowding and homelessness live cheek by jowl with opulent second homes, palatial apartments for the mega-rich and vast outflows of rent to corporate landlords.

“The entirely preventable atrocity at Grenfell Tower has revealed the extent of inequality in Kensington and Chelsea, and the years of poor political decision-making and financial mismanagement.”

The report even claims some residents in the borough are suffering from tuberculosis and rickets due to malnutrition.

(Image: Rex)